Many people may know the story of John Merrick, because of David Lynch's famous 1980 film starring John Hurt in the title role. So why have Cragrats decided it needs another re-telling?

Gwndaf Tomos-Evans, together with fellow actor Tuirenn Hurstfield, has co-written this production as well as directing and taking the part of Doctor Treeves, the doctor who cares for Merrick who suffers from Proteus Syndrome, a disfiguring congenital disease. He says: "I always try and choose a play that I feel people would like to see. I have always found The Elephant Man an interesting subject, and must admit that a few tears were shed whilst I wrote the script. Many people know the story of The Elephant Man due to the film, and I think they will feel intrigued in finding out how will this be converted to a CragRats stage.

Gwndaf Tomos-Evans: "A few tears were shed while I wrote the script."

"When researching, I was surprised to learn that Merrick called himself the 'elephant man.' I was also shocked at the extent of Merrick's afflictions. The biggest challenge writing the script was the fact that Merrick is such a well-known icon. I've tried to steer the play back to the truth of John Merrick, rather than produce an over-fabrication of the stage play."

In an attempt to earn some sort of a living John Merrick joined a "freak show" but his appearance was too much even for Victorian audiences. The Cragrats production tells how Doctor Treeves comes across Merrick and recognises there is a real person inside who he wants to help lead a "normal life." The writers make use of Treeves' medical research in their script.

Cragrats Theatre has fewer resources to play with than David Lynch had when he filmed the story. Tomos-Evans continues: "There were so many people involved in Merrick's life, therefore we wanted to express this within our script, but it was challenging using five actors. I feel that our audiences are intrigued by how we will deliver such a production with this number of actors, achieving a high quality result in the more intimate environment of Cragrats' studio venue."

This sort of challenge is nothing new for the company. In their recent production of Under Milk Wood thirty parts were played by just three actors!

The Elephant Man continues at Cragrats Theatre in Holmfirth to Saturday September 24th. For more information call 01484 686451.